Samsung sole provider for iPhone 8 screens

Thursday, 14 September 2017 20:06
Written by Jason

People are excited about getting the new iPhone 8, however, that cool edge-to-edge display that is one of the big features is ironically made by Apple's biggest competitor, Samsung. Of course since Samsung is the only ones who can make a screen like that, the prices have gone up and I'm sure that is being passed along to the end consumer. AppleInsider has the story.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities issued a note to investors on Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider, revealing that Samsung has strong bargaining power against Apple.

He suspects that the OLED displays for the "iPhone 8" cost Apple between $120 and $130 per unit — well beyond the $45 to $55 per unit Apple is said to pay for the iPhone 7 Plus 5.5-inch LCD screen.

According to Kuo, "Apple is in urgent need of finding a second source of OLED." Any diversity in the supply chain will take time, however, as competing display makers need to not only ramp up OLED output, but also master manufacturing of the next-generation display technology to meet Apple's quality control standards.